22 December 2024

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Six people, including a child, were killed on Friday in a Ukrainian missile attack on the town of Rylsk in Russia's Kursk region, the acting governor of the city of Rylsk in Russia's Kursk region said.

Khenshtin wrote on Telegram that ten wounded, including a 13-year-old young man, were taken to hospital with minor injuries.

He said: “What happened today is a great tragedy for all of us.” “We grieve with the families of the victims. No one will be left without support.”

He added that those responsible would receive “due retribution.”

Russia's permanent representative to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzia, later told a Security Council session that Moscow would quickly respond to the “clear move by the Kiev regime.”

“As you well know, our response to this targeted crime against peaceful Russian citizens will not take long,” he told the session.

The Ukrainian authorities did not comment on the incident.

Khenshtin said Ukraine fired US-supplied Himars missiles, damaging several buildings including a school, a recreation center and private residences in Rylsk, about 16 miles (26 km) from the border with Ukraine's Sumy region.

An earlier, unconfirmed report by the Mash Telegram channel, which is close to Russian law enforcement authorities, put the death toll at seven people.

The channel published an unverified video clip showing damaged buildings and cars burning on a city street.

In a subsequent post on Telegram, Khenshtein said the attack also disrupted heating and gas networks, and that work was underway to restore supplies to more than 80 residences.

Ukrainian forces still control part of the Kursk region after storming the border in a surprise incursion on August 6. Russian President Vladimir Putin said during his annual press conference on Thursday that they would be expelled, but he refused to set a date for that. It is happening.

Khenshtin, who served as a State Duma deputy until he was appointed acting governor of Kursk by Putin earlier this month, accused Kiev of deliberately targeting civilians in the strike.

Ukraine and Russia regularly accuse each other of attacking non-combatants, and both deny this.

Tensions between the warring parties have escalated since Tuesday, when senior Russian general Igor Kirillov was killed in a bomb explosion in Moscow. The Ukrainian intelligence service, the SBU, claimed responsibility for the assassination.

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